1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to solar power concentrators and more particularly to foldable, light-weight solar power concentrators for satellites and spacecraft.
2. Description of Related Art
In the past solar cells have been used in space and on Earth to generate electrical current from a light source such as the sun. However solar cells are very expensive. Since the amount of electricity generated by a solar cell is proportional to the amount of light incident on the solar cell methods of concentrating the light on the solar cells have been employed to reduce the number of solar cells. Many means for concentrating sunlight have been used. Large parabolic dish reflectors are common. These however are bulky, heavy, and not foldable, so that they are not readily transportable. The weight and foldablity features are particularly important if the solar collector is to be used in space.
One method of concentrating sunlight proposed for spacecraft is a trough-shaped Fresnel lens. These lenses are heavy and not readily foldable, limiting their desirability, especially for space based operations.
Very large disk parabolic inflatable concentrators to provide energy to a solar rocket have been proposed. Inflatable concentrators are light weight, foldable, easy to deploy structures which are particularly desirable for transportable concentrators such as for use in space.